Epilepsy is a common neurological condition that affects the brain and causes seizures. Get the facts and learn how it's diagnosed.

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Epilepsy is a neurological condition that's largely misunderstood. "People often think epilepsy is one of the worst conditions to be diagnosed with and compare it to a death sentence," says Ilo E. Leppik, MD, adjunct professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, director of research at MINCEP Epilepsy Care in Minneapolis, and author of Epilepsy. "Yet with today's medical treatments, this condition can be very well controlled, allowing people with epilepsy to live relatively normal lives."

Epilepsy Basics
People with epilepsy experience brief disturbances in the normal electrical functioning of their brain. This can affect the entire brain, which is called generalized epilepsy, or just part of it, known as partial epilepsy. When these strong surges of electrical activity occur, they affect the consciousness, movement patterns, and sensations during episodes called seizures. In clinical terms, epilepsy is called a seizure disorder and is defined as having two or more unprovoked seizures, meaning that they come out of nowhere and have no clear cause. Although many people have seizures, not all of them are epileptic, however. Seizures also can be caused by a variety of other triggers, including medication reactions, a heart condition, or even extreme sleep deprivation, Dr. Leppik says.

Epilepsy Demographics
Epilepsy is more common than you might think. According to
the Epilepsy Foundation, millions of Americans are living with
the condition. Although
it can strike either sex at any age, epilepsy is most often diagnosed in children and in older adults. "The older you get, the higher your risk becomes," says
Georgia Montouris, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the Boston
University School of Medicine and director of epilepsy services at Boston
Medical Center..

Epilepsy Causes
So why do people develop epilepsy? Unfortunately, researchers don't have all of the answers, and for the majority there are no known causes. In the remaining few individuals with epilepsy, Dr. Montouris says, certain situations may be implicated, including a trauma at birth, hemorrhage, brain malformations, infections involving the brain such as meningitis and encephalitis, a stroke, head trauma, brain tumors, genetic syndromes, and blood vessel abnormality.

Epilepsy Diagnosis
Because the causes of epilepsy are so varied, establishing a medical history is one of the first steps a physician will take when diagnosing the condition. Although many physicians will treat epilepsy solely on the basis of a patient's medical history, there are other tools at your doctor's disposal as well. Depending on what type of epilepsy is suspected — there are dozens of different forms — doctors may order an electroencephalograph, which records brain waves and can alert physicians to patterns that might indicate seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging, computerized tomography, and in some cases, positive emission tomography, also may be used as diagnostic tools.

Epilepsy Prevention
Epilepsy isn't like heart disease or cancer, where certain lifestyle habits can affect your level of risk and allow you to take preventive measures against developing these conditions. Because epilepsy can affect anybody, Montouris issue a note of caution: "Protect your head as much as possible, which means wearing a helmet whenever you ride a bike, ski, or horseback ride — and that means the whole family, not just your kids."

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